Noticeboard

Please note that this website is available in 80 different languages! Click the Translate Page button located under Quick Links on the right side of the page if you wish to view the site in another language.

We have become a Hub! Please see the section to the right (under "Further Information") for more details!

NHS 111

In the case of urgent need when the practice is closed you can callNHS 111to speak to a triage nurse. Your needs will be assessed and advice offered or arrangements made for you to see a doctor.

Call 999 in a medical emergency. Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.

The practice will be open again, as usual on Tuesday 8th May 2018.

Online Repeat Prescriptions

Bath Row Medical Practice now offers the facility to request your repeat prescriptions online up to 7 days before they are due. To use this service you will need to be registered for online services at the practice. If you are a new patient at the practice this service will be offered when you register with us. If you are an existing patient please bring I.D (Passport, Driving Licence, Birth Certificate, Bank Statement or Utility Bill) to a member of our reception team who will help you register. Please note that in some cases the doctor will need to check your medication is safe for online prescribing before your online details are issued.

Summary Care Record (SCR)

Friends and Family Test

The NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) is the largest healthcare patient experience in the world. It is based on the simple question "Would you recommend this service to your friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?"

Please click the "Friends and Family Test" link under the heading "Have your say" on the right of this page in order to complete the Friends and Family Test.

Alternatively questionnaires are available at the practice if you prefer.

Confidentiality

The practice complies with Data Protection and Access to Medical Records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.

To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.

When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases

Anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

PATIENTS’ RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The NHS Constitution has been created to protect the NHS and make sure it will always do the things it was set up to do

What is the NHS Constitution?

For the first time in the history of the NHS, the constitution brings together in one place details of what staff, patients and the public can expect from the National Health Service. It also explains what you can do to help support the NHS, help it work effectively, and help ensure that its resources are used responsibly.

The Constitution sets out your rights as an NHS patient (and our responsibilities as service providers). These cover how patients access health services, the quality of care you will receive, the treatments and programmes available to you, confidentiality, information and your right to complain if things go wrong. The Constitution also sets out your responsibilities as a patient.

At Bath Row Medical Practice, we reflect the principles of the NHS Constitution in the following ways.

What You Can Expect From Us

1. We will do our best to give you access to a GP you trust:

a) We aim to run an appointment system that meets the requirements of the majority of our patients within the resources available to us and will review this at regular intervals

b) We will try to offer appointments at a range of times, including some e for those registered patients who cannot come to the Practice in working hours.

c) We will provide you with a choice of GPs wherever possible.

d) We will ensure that our facilities are accessible to disabled bodied as well as able-bodied patients and will provide home visits for those who are unable to attend the surgery

e) We will engage interpreter services for those who need them for their appointment with a doctor of nurse.

2. We aim to provide the highest quality of care that we can:

a) We will ensure that our doctors and nurses are fully trained and up to date in their knowledge.

b) We will ensure that all our staff have opportunities to improve and update their knowledge and skills.

c) We will provide clinical staff members with opportunities to learn about and share information concerning the latest nationally approved treatments, drugs and programmes

d) We will work with local experts to ensure that the drugs we provide are safe and cost-effective.

3. We will ensure that the environment at the Practice is clean at all times:

a) We will monitor standards of cleanliness in those parts of Attwood Green health centre that we, as a Practice, occupy.

b) We will follow best practice guidance to minimise the risk of infection for staff and patients alike.

4. We aim to treat all patients with respect and dignity:

a) We will maintain your confidentiality as a patient sad will not divulge information about you to others without your consent.

b) We will ensure that we give you appropriate information to enable you to make informed choices about your care

c) We will not undertake any procedures or referrals without your consent.

5. We will give you opportunities to be involved in your healthcare:

a) We will ask your views and opinions and give you information about alternative treatments available to you.

b) We will invite your views on the way the Practice runs – any registered patients has the opportunity to join our Patient Reference Group, which works with us to monitor and improve the way we work.

6. We will give you opportunities to feedback to us on how your care has been delivered:

a) We welcome suggestions, compliments and complaints as we can learn from any and all of these.

b) If things go wrong, we will be open and honest about our investigations to ex plain what went wrong, to apologise and to show you what we are doing to make sure the same mistake does not happen again.

What We Expect From You

1. We are here to help you keep fit and healthy, to help prevent you becoming ill and to look after you when you are sick but you need to be an active partner in this. We ask you to think about the choices you are making that may affect your long term health. We will always provide information to help you make these choices.

2. If you make an appointment to see one of our doctors or nurses do keep your appointment or cancel it. By simply not turning up you waste valuable NHS resources and stop another patient seeing the doctor. Each month, up to 200 patients fail to attend a booked appointment at Bath Row Medical Practice – that’s 200 wasted appointments at a cost of approximately £4,000! Please note that if you consistently waste appointments by failing to turn up we will ask you to register somewhere else.

3. Please work with us. Our systems are designed for your safety and to enable everyone to access services when they are needed.

a) Do not leave it until the last minute to order repeat prescriptions – allow 48 hours and your prescription request will be turned around safely and efficiently.

b) If you are unable to come to the surgery and need a home visit, please telephone before 10.30 am.

c) Do not wait until late on Friday afternoon before deciding you need an urgent medical opinion for a problem.

d) Please tell us if you move or change your phone number so that we can keep your health record up to date.

e) Book your travel immunisations in plenty of time before you travel.

f) Do remember to arrive on time for your appointment –the doctor may be delayed by a patient before you needing more than their allocated appointment time, but s/he will do his/her best to work to time and if you arrive late you may miss your ‘slot’ and have to re-book.

4. Please treat all our staff with respect. We will do the best we can to meet your health need with the resources available at that time but sometimes we cannot do exactly what you want when you want it or offer an individual service. Please do not shout at or abuse our staff – we work under the NHS ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy and incidences of abuse or inappropriate behaviour may result in our asking you to register with another GP.

5. If we get something wrong do tell us in an appropriate way. Our clinical team try their hardest to provide you with up to date, quality health care and our administration team aim to provide a friendly and efficient service at all times. However, we are human and we often work under great pressure so things don’t always go as smoothly as you and we might hope. Please don’t just grumble or wait until things are so bad that you need to make a formal complaint – there are plenty of ways you can tell us about your experiences so that we can learn from them and put things right for you. We have a Suggestions Box in our Reception area and if you wish to speak to someone our Patient Services Manager (Steven Elliott) will be pleased to speak with you. If he is not immediately available he will be pleased to contact you by telephone as soon as possible if you leave a contact number.

6. Do let us know when we do things especially well! Everybody responds to compliments and it makes us feel good when we know we have been able to help you and you are pleased. There are compliment forms in Reception or you can log on to the NHS Choices website to compliment us for all to see.

7. Would you be interested in helping to shape local health services? We have a Patient Panel that meets monthly. The Panel acts as a voice for our patients, giving us feedback and advice on local and national ideas and plans for health service developments. We are especially keen to have some younger people on our Panel and for the views of our student patients to be represented. If you think you might be interested, please phone the Practice, look at our website or drop in and ask for details at Reception.

Patient Involvement

Be involved with the care that BRMP provides for you.

You can:

Join our Patient Reference Group

Leave suggestions in the suggestion box

It's your practice - have your say!

Please see the section on 'Patient Reference Group' for further details.

Access to Health Records Under the Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives every living person the right to apply for access to their health records or have factual errors corrected. Any request for access to health records must be made in writing on the relevant form obtained from the practice and sent to the Practice Director. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 (Fees and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2001, you will be charged to view or be provided with copies of your health records.

Applicants may be:

The patient

A representative of the patient with their written permission

A person having parental responsibility for a child, if it is in the child's best interests and not contrary to a competent child's wishes

A person appointed by a court when the patient is incapable of managing his own affairs. When a patient has died, an application for access to the medical records can only be accepted with the written permission of the patient's personal representative. That person will either be an executer of the estate or, if the patient died intestate, the administrator of the estate.

To provide copies of patient health records the costs are:

Health records held totally on computer: up to a maximum £10 charge

Health records held in part on computer and in part manually: up to a maximum £50 charge

Health records held totally manually: up to a maximum £50 charge

To allow patients to view their health records (where no copy is required) the costs are:

Health records held totally on computer: up to a maximum £10 charge, unless the records have been added to in the last 40 days.

Health records held manually: up to a maximum £10 charge, unless the records have been added to in the last 40 days.

Health records held in part on computer and in part manually: a maximum of £10 unless the records have been added to in the last 40 days.

Note: if a person wishes to view their health records and then wants to be provided with copies, the £10 maximum fee for viewing records would be included within the £50 maximum fee for copies of health records.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, there is no obligation to comply with an access request unless the practice has enough information to identify the applicant and locate the information and unless the required fee has been paid. You will therefore be asked to complete an application form. When coming to the surgery to view or collect a copy of the records you will be asked to provide a form of photographic identification such as a passport.

Once the practice has all the relevant information and fee where relevant, we will comply with the request promptly, within 21 days and by no later than forty days after the request has been made. In exceptional circumstances if it is not possible to comply within the forty-day period you will be informed. A senior member of the Practice staff will be present when you view the records to assist you in understanding the information in the records.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 there are certain circumstances in which the practice may withhold information. Access may be denied, or limited, where the information might cause serious harm to the physical or mental health or condition of the patient, or any other person. Access may also be denied where it would involve disclosing information relating to or provided by a third person who had not consented to the disclosure.`

Compliments

Should you feel that your have received outstanding service from the Practice and wish to compliment a particular member of staff or discipline, please feel free to do so.

If it is at all possible we ask that you get the name or a description of the person you wish to compliment. Please ask to speak to the Reception Supervisor or the Patient Services Manager - they will take down details of your compliment and pass them on to the member of staff or service involved. Alternatively you can complete a compliment form (available in Reception) or write, giving as much detail as possible so we can identify the person/service.

You can also give positive feedback to the practice via our page on the NHS Choices website

If you wish to compliment anonymously, please use the Suggestions Box which is located on the left hand side of the reception desk.

The person or service complimented is always told and letters are put on our notice board for other members of staff to read.

Compliments are lovely to receive and help to boost the morale of our staff which makes them realise that they are appreciated by you as well as the Practice.

Complaints

We treat all complaints seriously and are very happy to look into any matters you raise. This gives us an opportunity to reflect on the way we do things and to work continuously to improve services for you. Please raise any and all concerns with us in the first instance as sometimes things may not be as they seem and/or a problem can be sorted very quickly. Negative comments on public websites are very disheartening for staff and can be misleading to other patients as they are often inaccurate, unfair or do not fully describe what has happened.

Informal Complaint

We hope that most of the time problems can be sorted quickly and to the satisfaction of you and the Practice without you having to make a formal complaint. A formal complaint takes time and minor issues are resolved more quickly if you can just speak to a person on site.

If you want to make an informal complaint about the services you have received from the Doctors or the staff working at the Practice, please let us know. Please ask to speak to the Patient Services Manager. You will be invited to a quiet area and will be given the opportunity to express your views. Details of your complaint will be discussed with you. If possible and where appropriate, a way forward will be agreed. You will then be asked if you wish to take the matter through to the formal complaints procedure.

Many problems can be resolved at this stage and do not require further action.

Formal Complaint

If we are unable to deal with your problem to your satisfaction, or if you wish immediately to make your complaint a formal one, you should complete the Complaint Form which you will find by the Reception counter.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of when you raise it with us. We will then be in a position to offer you an explanation or meeting with the people concerned.

Time Limits for Making Complaints

We would like to you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days, or at most a few weeks – because that will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem or

Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem providing this is within 12 months of the incident

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A signature from the patient on the complaint form will be needed.

Other Information

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. This does not affect your right to approach other authorities. If you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us you may wish to contact:-

POhWER, a client-led charity offering independent advocacy services to people in Birmingham who want help raising concerns about the care and treatment they have received from the NHS. This is a free service that can support and assist you if you wish to take your complaint further

Alternatively, you can contact the NHS England Complaints Line. This is available Monday to Friday 8.00-18.00 hours except Bank Holidays on:

If you would like help forming your complaint or information about the NHS complaints procedure you may contact the NHS Complaints Advocacy at:

NHS Complaints Advocacy

VoiceAbility

Mount Pleasant House

Huntingdon Road

Cambridge CB3 0RN

or by telephone on 0300 330 5454 or by fax on 0330 088 3762

A leaflet explaining what the NHS Complaints Advocacy can assist you with is available here.

If you remain unhappy after everything has been done to try to resolve your concern or complaint or you are dissatisfied with the response you receive through either the Practice-based complaints procedure (Local Resolution) or through NHS England’s Complaint Line, you have the right to contact The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to request an independent review of your complaint. The PHSO can be contacted at:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has published a booklet that describes the ‘six principles for remedy’ in relation to complaints handling and involves:

Getting it right

Being customer focused

Being open and accountable

Acting fairly and proportionately

Putting things right

Seeking continuous improvements

More information about the NHS Complaints Procedure, including information on how to make a complaint can be found on the NHS Choices website.

GP Training

We take pride in being a training practice.

We are involved in training GP registrars, medical and nursing students, and students on work experience.

Your consent will be requested before you are seen or examined by a student. This is an important and invaluable learning process for the students but you are entitled to refuse to have a student attend your consultation with a clinician without your care being compromised.

If once you have said 'Yes‘ you feel you do not want a student to observe, you can withdraw your consent at any time by informing a BRMP member. This will not affect your care in any way.

Data Protection Privacy Notice for Patients

Introduction:

This privacy notice lets you know what happens to any personal data that you give to us, or any that we may collect from or about you.

This privacy notice applies to personal information processed by or on behalf of the practice.

This Notice explains

Who we are, how we use your information and information about our Data Protection Officer?

What kinds of personal information about you do we process?

What are the legal grounds for our processing of your personal information (including when we share it with others)?

What should you do if your personal information changes?

For how long your personal information is retained by us?

What are your rights under data protection laws?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 became law on 25th May 2018. The GDPR is a single EU-wide regulation on the protection of confidential and sensitive information, the DPA 2018 deals with elements of UK law that differ from the European Regulation. These came into force in the UK on the 25th May 2018, repealing the previous Data Protection Act (1998).

For the purpose of applicable data protection legislation (including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (the "GDPR"), and the Data Protection Act 2018 the practice responsible for your personal data is Bath Row Medical Practice.

This Notice describes how we collect, use and process your personal data, and how, in doing so, we comply with our legal obligations to you. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights

How we use your information and the law.

Bath Row Medical Practice will be what’s known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.

We collect basic personal data about you which does include special types of information and location-based information. This does include name, address, medical conditions, contact details such as email and mobile number etc.

We will collect sensitive confidential data known as “special category personal data”, in the form of health information, religious belief (if required in a healthcare setting) ethnicity, and sex during the services we provide to you and or linked to your healthcare through other health providers or third parties.

Why do we need your information?

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which the Practice hold about you may include the following information;

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive, including contacting you. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS and the services we provide. Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

How do we lawfully use your data?

We need to know your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order to provide you with Healthcare services as a General Practice, under the General Data Protection Regulation we will be lawfully using your information in accordance with: -

Article 6, e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;”

Article 9, (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems

This Privacy Notice applies to the personal data of our patients and the data you have given us about your carers/family members.

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventive intervention. Information about you is collected from several sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information is only provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary, your GP may be able to offer you additional services. Please note that you have the right to opt out of your data being used in this way.

Medicines Management

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost-effective treatments.

Patient Communication

The Practice will use/like to use your name, contact details and email address to inform you of NHS services, or provide inform about your health/information to manage your healthcare or information about the management of the NHS service. There may be occasions were authorised research facilities would like you to take part in research in regard to your particular health issues, to try improve your health, your contact details may be used to invite you to receive further information about such research opportunities.

Safeguarding

The Practice is dedicated to ensuring that the principles and duties of safeguarding adults and children are holistically, consistently and conscientiously applied with the wellbeing of all, at the heart of what we do.

Article 9(2)(b) – ‘processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law…’

Research

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) collects de-identified patient data from a network of GP practices across the UK. Primary care data are linked to a range of other health related data to provide a longitudinal, representative UK population health dataset. You can opt out of your information being used for research purposes at any time (see below), full details can be found here: -

The legal bases for processing this information

CPRD do not hold or process personal data on patients; however, NHS Digital (formally the Health and Social Care Centre) may process ‘personal data’ for us as an accredited ‘safe haven’ or ‘trusted third-party’ within the NHS when linking GP data with data from other sources. The legal bases for processing this data are:

Medicines and medical device monitoring: Article 6(e) and Article 9(2)(i) - public interest in the area of public health

Medical research and statistics: Article 6(e) and Article 9(2)(j) - public interest and scientific research purposes

Any data CPRD hold or pass on to bona fide researchers, except for clinical research studies, will have been anonymised in accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office Anonymisation Code of Practice. We will hold data indefinitely for the benefit of future research, but studies will normally only hold the data we release to them for twelve months.

Categories of personal data

The data collected by Practice staff in the event of a safeguarding situation will be as much personal information as is necessary or possible to obtain in order to handle the situation. In addition to some basic demographic and contact details, we will also process details of what the safeguarding concern is. This is likely to be special category information (such as health information).

Sources of the data

The Practice will either receive or collect information when someone contacts the organisation with safeguarding concerns, or we believe there may be safeguarding concerns and make enquiries to relevant providers.

Recipients of personal data

The information is used by the Practice when handling a safeguarding incident or concern. We may share information accordingly to ensure duty of care and investigation as required with other partners such as local authorities, the police or healthcare professionals (i.e. their GP or mental health team).

Third party processors

In order to deliver the best possible service, the practice will share data (where required) with other NHS bodies such as other GP practices and hospitals. In addition, the practice will use carefully selected third party service providers. When we use a third party service provider to process data on our behalf then we will always have an appropriate agreement in place to ensure that they keep the data secure, that they do not use or share information other than in accordance with our instructions and that they are operating appropriately. Examples of functions that may be carried out by third parties includes:

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.

We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles.

Our practice policy is to respect the privacy of our patients, their families and our staff and to maintain compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and all UK specific Data Protection Requirements. Our policy is to ensure all personal data related to our patients will be protected.

All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The practice will, if required, sign a separate confidentiality agreement if the client deems it necessary. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for Bath Row Medical Practice an appropriate contract (art 24-28) will be established for the processing of your information.

In Certain circumstances you may have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of data. Please contact the Data Protection Officer in writing if you wish to withdraw your consent. If some circumstances we may need to store your data after your consent has been withdrawn to comply with a legislative requirement.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose in an identifiable format. In some circumstances you can Opt-out of the surgery sharing any of your information for research purposes.

With your consent we would also like to use your information

There are times that we may want to use your information to contact you or offer you services, not directly about your healthcare, in these instances we will always gain your consent to contact you. We would however like to use your name, contact details and email address to inform you of other services that may benefit you, we will only do this with your consent. There may be occasions were authorised research facilities would like you to take part on innovations, research, improving services or identifying trends, you will be asked to opt in to such programmes.

At any stage where we would like to use your data for anything other than the specified purposes and where there is no lawful requirement for us to share or process your data, we will ensure that you have the ability to consent and opt out prior to any data processing taking place. This information is not shared with third parties or used for any marketing and you can unsubscribe at any time via phone, email or by informing the practice DPO as below.

National Opt-Out Facility

You can choose whether your confidential patient information is used for research and planning.

Who can use your confidential patient information for research and planning?

It is used by the NHS, local authorities, university and hospital researchers, medical colleges and pharmaceutical companies researching new treatments.

Making your data opt-out choice

You can choose to opt out of sharing your confidential patient information for research and planning. There may still be times when your confidential patient information is used: for example, during an epidemic where there might be a risk to you or to other people’s health. You can also still consent to take part in a specific research project.

Will choosing this opt-out affect your care and treatment?

No, your confidential patient information will still be used for your individual care. Choosing to opt out will not affect your care and treatment. You will still be invited for screening services, such as screenings for bowel cancer.

What should you do next?

You do not need to do anything if you are happy about how your confidential patient information is used.

If you do not want your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you can choose to opt out securely online or through a telephone service.

You can change your choice at any time. To find out more or to make your choice visit nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters or call 0300 303 5678

Where do we store your information Electronically?

All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.

No 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in place Such as a Data Processor as above). We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special category (sensitive, confidential) data.

EMIS Web

The Practice uses a clinical system provided by a Data Processor called EMIS, with effect from 10th June 2019, EMIS will start storing your practice’s EMIS Web data in a highly secure, third party cloud hosted environment, namely Amazon Web Services (“AWS”).

The data will remain in the UK at all times and will be fully encrypted both in transit and at rest. In doing this, there will be no change to the control of access to your data and the hosted service provider will not have any access to the decryption keys. AWS is one of the world’s largest cloud companies, already supporting numerous public sector clients (including the NHS), and it offers the very highest levels of security and support.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations;

NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts

GP’s

Primary Care Network

NHS Commissioning Support Units

Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists

Private Sector Providers

Voluntary Sector Providers

Ambulance Trusts

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Social Care Services

NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)

Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

Local Authorities

Education Services

Fire and Rescue Services

Police & Judicial Services

Voluntary Sector Providers

Private Sector Providers

Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for consent for this to happen when this is required.

Computer System This practice operates a Clinical Computer System on which NHS Staff record information securely. This information can then be shared with other clinicians so that everyone caring for you is fully informed about your medical history, including allergies and medication.

To provide around the clock safe care, unless you have asked us not to, we will make information available to trusted organisations. Wherever possible, their staff will ask your consent before your information is viewed.

We consider patient consent as being the key factor in dealing with your health information.

Shared Care Records

To support your care and improve the sharing of relevant information to our partner organisations when they are involved in looking after you, we will share information to other systems. The general principle is that information is passed to these systems unless you request this does not happen, but that system users should ask for your consent before viewing your record.

We may also use external companies to process personal information, such as for archiving purposes. These companies are bound by contractual agreements to ensure information is kept confidential and secure. All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for Bath Row Medical Practice an appropriate contract (art 24-28) will be established for the processing of your information.

Sharing your information without consent

We will normally ask you for your consent, but there are times when we may be required by law to share your information without your consent, for example:

where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people;

where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented;

notification of new births;

where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS);

where a formal court order has been issued;

where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence.

How long will we store your information?

We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records management code of practice for health and social care and national archives requirements.

More information on records retention can be found online at (https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016)

How can you access, amend move the personal data that you have given to us?

Even if we already hold your personal data, you still have various rights in relation to it. To get in touch about these, please contact us. We will seek to deal with your request without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of any applicable laws. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.

Right to object: If we are using your data because we deem it necessary for our legitimate interests to do so, and you do not agree, you have the right to object. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases). Generally, we will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities (for example for a research project), or consent to market to you, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Right to erasure: In certain situations (for example, where we have processed your data unlawfully), you have the right to request us to "erase" your personal data. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases) and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will Delete your data but will generally assume that you would prefer us to keep a note of your name on our register of individuals who would prefer not to be contacted. That way, we will minimise the chances of you being contacted in the future where your data are collected in unconnected circumstances. If you would prefer us not to do this, you are free to say so.

Right of data portability: If you wish, you have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller. We will help with this with a GP to GP data transfer and transfer of your hard copy notes.

Primary Care Network

The objective of primary care networks is for group practices together to create more collaborative workforces which ease the pressure of GP’s, leaving them better able to focus on patient care. The aim is that by July 2019, all areas within England will be covered by a PCN.

Primary care networks form a key building block of the NHS long-term plan. Bringing general practices together to work at scale has been a policy priority for some years for a range of reasons, including improving the ability of practices to recruit and retain staff; to manage financial and estates pressures; to provide a wider range of services to patients and to more easily integrate with the wider health and care system.

All GP practices are expected to come together in geographical networks covering populations of approximately 30–50,000 patients by June 2019 if they are to take advantage of additional funding attached to the GP contract. This size is consistent with the size of the primary care homes, which exist in many places in the country, but much smaller than most GP Federations.

This means the practice may share your information with other practices within the PCN to provide you with your care and treatment.

Access to your personal information

Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR): You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. To request this, you need to do the following:

Your request should be made to the Practice – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them

There is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you

We are required to respond to you within one month

You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records located information we hold about you at any time.

What should you do if your personal information changes?

You should tell us so that we can update our records please contact the Practice Manager as soon as any of your details change, this is especially important for changes of address or contact details (such as your mobile phone number), the practice will from time to time ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up-to-date.

Objections / Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the GP, please contact the GP Practice Manager or the Data Protection Officer as above. If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice, you have a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have a right to complain to the UK supervisory Authority as below.

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice, then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, then please contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.

If you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you, please contact the Data Protection Officer as below.

Data Protection Officer:

The Practice Data Protection Officer is Paul Couldrey of PCIG Consulting Limited. Any queries regarding Data Protection issues should be addressed to him at: -

It is important to point out that we may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our Privacy Notice, please contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.

COVID-19 Privacy Notice

Due to the unprecedented challenges that the NHS and we, Bath Row Medical Practice face due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, there is a greater need for public bodies to require additional collection and sharing of personal data to protect against serious threats to public health.

In order to look after your healthcare needs in the most efficient way we, Bath Row Medical Practice may therefore need to share your personal information, including medical records, with staff from other GP Practices including Practices within our Primary Care Network, as well as other health organisations (i.e. Clinical Commissioning Groups, Commissioning Support Units, Local authorities etc.) and bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of research, protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the Covid-19 outbreak and incidents of exposure.

The Secretary of State has served notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI) to require organisations to process confidential patient information in the manner set out below for purposes set out in Regulation 3(1) of COPI.

Purpose of this Notice

The purpose of this Notice is to require organisations such as Bath Row Medical Practice to process confidential patient information for the purposes set out in Regulation 3(1) of COPI to support the Secretary of State’s response to Covid-19 (Covid-19 Purpose). “Processing” for these purposes is defined in Regulation 3(2) and includes dissemination of confidential patient information to persons and organisations permitted to process confidential patient information under Regulation 3(3) of COPI. This Notice is necessary to require organisations such as Bath Row Medical Practice to lawfully and efficiently process confidential patient information as set out in Regulation 3(2) of COPI for purposes defined in regulation 3(1), for the purposes of research, protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the Covid-19 outbreak and incidents of exposure.

Requirement to Process Confidential Patient Information

The Secretary of State has served notice to recipients under Regulation 3(4) that requires Bath Row Medical Practice to process confidential patient information, including disseminating to a person or organisation permitted to process confidential patient information under Regulation 3(3) of COPI.

Bath Row Medical Practice is only required to process such confidential patient information:

Where the confidential patient information to be processed is required for a Covid-19 purpose and will be processed solely for that Covid-19 Purpose in accordance with regulation 7 of COPI from 20th March 2020 until 30th September 2020.

Covid-19 Purpose.

A Covid-19 Purpose includes but is not limited to the following:

Understanding Covid-19 and risks to public health, trends in Covid-19 and such risks, and controlling and preventing the spread of Covid-19 and such risks

Identifying and understanding information about patients or potential patients with or at risk of Covid-19, information about incidents of patient exposure to Covid-19 and the management of patients with or at risk of Covid-19 including: locating, contacting, screening, flagging and monitoring such patients and collecting information about and providing services in relation to testing, diagnosis, self-isolation, fitness to work, treatment, medical and social interventions and recovery from Covid-19

Understanding information about patient access to health services and adult social care services and the need for wider care of patients and vulnerable groups as a direct or indirect result of Covid-19 and the availability and capacity of those services or that care

Monitoring and managing the response to Covid-19 by health and social care bodies and the Government including providing information to the public about Covid-19 and its effectiveness and information about capacity, medicines, equipment, supplies, services and the workforce within the health services and adult social care services

Delivering services to patients, clinicians, the health services and adult social care services workforce and the public about and in connection with Covid-19, including the provision of information, fit notes and the provision of health care and adult social care services research and planning in relation to Covid-19.

Recording of processing

A record will be kept by Bath Row Medical Practice of all data processed under this Notice.

Sending Public Health Messages

Data protection and electronic communication laws will not stop [PRACTICE NAME] from sending public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email as these messages are not direct marketing.

Digital Consultations

It may also be necessary, where the latest technology allows us to do so, to use your information and health data to facilitate digital consultations and diagnoses and we will always do this with your security in mind.

Visitors to The Practice

We have an obligation to protect our staff and employees’ health, so it is reasonable for staff at Bath Row Medical Practice to ask any visitors to our practice to tell us if they have visited a particular country, or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. This must only be in pre-approved circumstances and we would also ask all patients to consider government advice on the NHS 111 website and not attend the practice.

Where it is necessary for us to collect information and specific health data about visitors to our practice, we will not collect more information than we need, and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

Review and Expiry of this Notice

This Notice will be reviewed on or before 30 September 2020 and may be extended by The Secretary of State. If no further notice is sent to Bath Row Medical Practice by The Secretary of State this Notice will expire on 30 September 2020.